Tiffany M deSousa

When life overwhelms... I take a breath, and Choose to Remember the Love and Celebrate my Life. 💕

She helped me find safe refuge at a youth shelter; she received custody just days before Christmas; she provided access to interventions and encouragement which changed the course of my life; she encouraged me to face my trauma and convinced me that I could heal.

When creating a nonprofit, it was essential Andrea be a part. It is her legacy because I am her legacy. And I am here - alive, educated, thriving - because she believed in me.

There is a reason Love is analogous of Light and Hope.

Love breaks every barrier, even death. It can change the world.

This is why Andrea Viggiano's life mantras were: "Choose love. Celebrate life."

When faced with the ire of another or patience has worn too thin: "Remember the Love".

When you feel alone, lost, confused: "Remember the Love".

When #grief takes its hold and you find it hard to cope: "Remember the Love".

When #anger grips your insides and you want someone to blame: "Remember the Love".

When #fear creeps into the corners of your heart and your mind becomes a maze: "Remember the Love".

When my former high school teacher, advisor, mentor, guardian turned best friend and mother of my heart, faced the end of her terminal illness - she told us all:

"#RememberTheLove" ~

It is sage advice.

YouTube video by CLCL Foundation CLCL Foundation is Restoring Youth Safe Haven and Innovative Solutions to Prevent Youth Homelessness

Donate today to help at-risk and vulnerable people, address and prevent crises, including youth homelessness.

Https://clclfoundation.org/donate-today/

youtu.be/sFeTXEaKDWY?...

YouTube video by Conversations with Calvin; We the SpecIEs TIFFANY M de SOUSA; MA; Bd of Directors, Chair, CLCL Foundation- Choose Love Celebrate Life; Live NJ

Check out my interview with Calvin Schwartz as we discuss the need for services and how important it ##RememberTheLove

youtu.be/huibJkml_Fg?...

Runaway Youth May Find New Home In Ocean County OCEAN COUNTY – For Tiffany M. deSousa, now 40, securing a federal grant to open a youth shelter for runaway and homeless youth couldn’t be more personal. More than two decades ago, Tiffany ran away from home and credits a trusted teacher and the safe haven she found at Ocean’s Harbor House with saving […]

www.jerseyshoreonline.com/featured/run...

When I needed #help the most, it was available.

And that made all the difference.

@clclfoundation.bsky.social Board Treasury Lisa Scala completed my intake after 2:30am.

I found Safe Refuge 23 Years Ago Today.

It was 11:30pm when I entered the Emergency #Youth Shelter.

My only wish is for others in need, in crisis, at-risk, or without familial supports, find these same #services & get these same opportunities to heal, grow, & become their best self.

Hundred of thousands to millions of people that came long before me & those in positions of power throughout my life - SAVED ME! Changed my #Outcomes & provided the #Interventions I needed to become my best self.

I am grateful @clclfoundation.bsky.social received the same Federal Grant that paid for my bed when I ran. I will be at the National Grantee Conference on the 23rd Anniversary of entering the shelter 12/3.

I am grateful to the Helpers I continue to find in my community. The unseen, consistent volunteers, #advocates, & leaders in religious-affiliated, not for profit, & County/State organizations.

I went back to school because I wanted to work at the place that helped me. I wanted to help others like me. I am grateful I was able to do that, on three occasions, as both part-time and full-time Residential #Counselor.

Andrea & the Shelter employees became people I did not want to disappoint. It impacted my decisions, keeping me from addictive substances, maintaining employment & my own apartment, & addressing my #mentalhealth needs.

Andrea, my #Journalism teacher & advisor on the school newspaper, received custody just days before Christmas 2001.

When I ran away, the #Shelter Program gave me more than just housing. It gave me people who saw my situation & reacted in ways counter to my previous experience & beliefs about help. I gained self insights, awareness for how my behaviors could be viewed, & other systems examined my case.

Andrea Viggiano - there is never a day I am not grateful for this woman. As my teacher, she referred me to a local Outreach & #Youth Shelter when I needed it most. The Outreach was the only place I could access mental health services without parental permission. They helped me to stop #cutting.

I am ever so grateful for the many public school #teachers over the years that supported me. My boarding school dorm mom bought me the Courage to Heal when I was 14. I think it's the only thing that kept me alive as my CPTSD crashed down on me.

My mother's (who died when I was 3 weeks old) sister & husband received custody just days before #Christmas 1990.

Not to mention the researchers & evaluators who tested the #validity of policies/procedures before they were created.

Procedures, Justice system rules, & experts ensured my case couldn't be thrown out due to technicalities. There were video tapes, dolls, interviews, physical exams, forensic #psychologists, all willing to testify on my behalf.

Laws and policies created the #FosterCare system, vetted my foster parents, & provided me a litany of services.

I am most #Thankful for the #Helpers who changed the course of my life. Hundreds of unnamed legislators who passed the laws that gave me free breakfast during school, free lunch in the summer, free clinics for the only health checkup I ever received.

Thank you so much!

Runaway Youth May Find New Home In Ocean County OCEAN COUNTY – For Tiffany M. deSousa, now 40, securing a federal grant to open a youth shelter for runaway and homeless youth couldn’t be more personal. More than two decades ago, Tiffany ran away fr...

Can you help with crowdfunfing for other little nonprofits that provide free services for youth in crisis, which is a suicide prevention. www.jerseyshoreonline.com/featured/run...